William e



PATENTED JAN. 19, 1904.

w. E. HOYT. SHAFT SUPPORTER. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 30, 1902.

H0 MODEL: I

WILLIAM HoY-r, or

Patented January 19, 1904.

P T NT, OFFICE.

YORK, Y.

. sHA m u b-csree ,1:

SPECIFICATION forming part of-Letters Patent No$749,991," dated January 19, 1904. A

Application filed A ust-so, 1902.

To all whom it may concern: I,

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM E. HOYT, aciti zen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shaft-Supporters,of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improvement in vehicle-shaft couplings and shaft-supporters; and the object of the invention is to take the weight of the shafts off of the horses back or when the horse is removed from the vehicle to support the shafts at any desired angle.

The further object is to provide a shaftsupporter which can be readily applied to and used with shaft and pole couplings having a two-part hinged eye-such, for example, as the coupling commonly known as the Bradley, in which the hinged portion of the eye is held closed by means of a spring-pressed loop; and my object is to provide an attachment. which will assist in keeping the loop from unhooking.

My further object is to provide a simple, inexpensive, and neat-appearing device which will be inconspicuous on the vehicle.

I accomplish these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which 8 Figure 1 is a front elevation of the end of the front axle of a vehicle, showing the shaft attached thereto and both equipped with my invention; Fig. 2, a view in side elevation of same; and Fig. 3, aview, on a larger scale, of the shaft-hooks or stirrup by which the supporting-springs are made fast to the shaft.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

4 is the front axle of a vehicle, and 5 the shaft, both of usual and well-known construction.

6' is a bar clipped to the under side of the axle transversely thereto and having an eye on its front end. The upper half 7 of the eye is in a separate piece from the lower portion and is hinged at its outer end thereto. The

stiairofiiz isco. (no model.)

T whereu pon the part closedand its hooked end 9 held by slipping the loop 10 over itin the manner shown in' Fig. 2. The loop .10 is pivotally connected with the lever 11 between the fulcrum 12 of said lever and its power endli3 "and adjacent to said fulcrum.

The lever 11 is fulcrumed to the spring 14., and when the parts are in the positions shown in the drawings the loop 10 is drawn by the spring in a direction to close the hinged eye part 7 By moving the lever 11 away from the spring the loop begins to raise after passing the fulcrum and the part 7 is released.

The above mechanism is substantially the Bradley coupling in common use, and one of the serious objections to it is that the loop is liable to work off of the hooked end of the hinged eyepiece, thereby releasing the shaft. To prevent this and at the same time to provide a most convenient, simple, cheap, and effective shaft-supporter,I provide an auxiliary loop 15, which is placed in front of loop 10, as shown in Fig. 2, and is passed thence to the rear of loop 10 outside of said loop. This loop 15 is made out of spring-wire and merges into the coiled springs 16 16 on either side of bar 6 and lever 11. Each end of the springcoil is then brought up over the axlelin a sweep, as shown, and the hooked ends 17 17 are caught under the respective hooked ends 18 18 of the stirrup or shackle 19. The stirrup 19 goes around the under side of the shaft. It is preferably constructed of the two side bars 20 20, between which is pivotally se- The latter may remain in a stationary position against the shaft, while allowing the sides 20 20 to swing with the raising and lowering of the shafts and avoiding the scratching and marring of the shafts by the sliding thereon of the stirrup. The coils .16 16 bear upwardly against the under side of the axle, and the tendency of the spring construction to 1111001101 straighten out draws the loop 15 down to assist in holding the part 7 closed, and the attachment to the shaft at the opposite ends draws the shafts in an upward direction.

The drawings illustrate the construction and operation so thoroughly that further description is deemed unnecessary.

IOO

It is obvious that my construction takes the place of the loop 10 and spring 14 and renders unnecessary those parts, and therefore of lever 11, and in the construction of anew coupling for vehicles with my invention the above portion to receive the shaft-pivot, the upper portion of said eye being hinged to the lower portion and formed with a hook on its rearwardly-extending end, a loop for securing said hinged portion adapted to engage over said hook, and a spring looped over said hook outside of said loop and passing down under and around the axle and engaged with the top of the vehicle-shaft, whereby said loop is prevented from accidentally working off said hook and the shaft is supported, substantially as set forth.

2. In a shaft-supporter, the combination of the coupling secured to the axle having an eye to receive the shaft-pivot, said eye being formed with an upper portion hinged to the lower portion, the shaft with its pivot mounted in said eye, a spring engaging a rearwardlyextending end of said hinged portion and having a coil formed in each branch thereof and its ends extending around and over the top of said axle and connected with a stirrup which is pivoted to a pivot-plate on the under side of said shaft, and said stirrup, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal at New York city this 25th day of August, A. D. 1902.

WILLIAM E. HOYT. [L. s]

Witnesses:

T. M. BLEAKLEY, J. R. SMITH 

